March 3, 2025 – If visitors closed their eyes for one moment on Lake Lucina Elementary’s campus last Thursday, one would think they were in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the peak of the Black Wall Street era.
With “Black Wall Street” and “Greenwood” signs lining the school’s cafeteria and students selling their own hand-produced goods, the event was a special Black History Month commemoration of Black Wall Street.
“Let's do something different, something innovative,” VPK Teacher Tara Kelly told the school principal. “Let's do a Black Wall Street here, and the kids can make their own products, and we can give them Black Wall Street money to shop at the vendors who will come.”
Thursday, Kelly’s vision came to life with students joining more than two dozen vendors in a makeshift marketplace selling products that included handmade bracelets, desserts, books, and apparel. Additionally, students set up a Black Wall Street Museum to showcase what they’ve learned, including project boards and real pictures of the Tulsa neighborhood.
Educators said the event was meant to promote entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and community building; a legacy of values that rise above the 1921 racially motivated destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood district, known as Black Wall Street and once deemed the most prosperous African American community in the United States.
“Black Wall Street was about building,” said Kelly. “It was about community. We talked about being a producer and not so much a consumer. So, we're hoping that from this experience they’ll see that, ‘I can do the same thing.’”
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n addition to learning about the history, students were also tasked with interviewing and researching local entrepreneurs. Fourth-grader Travis Darrow says learning about Black Wall Street taught him that he could be a successful entrepreneur.
“I learned how my barber JT developed and created his business,” said Darrow. “JT inspired me to do what I like and take matters into my own hands of what I want to do.”
Elise Brown, parent of Pre-K student Zoey Brown, says her young daughter is now inspired to follow in her entrepreneurial footsteps.
“It is super important for her to know that people who look like us are also successful at owning businesses, doing their own thing, and selling the things they're passionate about,” said Elise Brown. "As a business owner, I see her learning from me all the time, and this event brings that to life—showing that she can achieve anything she sets her mind to and even run her own successful business if she chooses."
Story by Brittany Jones